Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has warned her colleagues the Australian people will judge the Liberal Party at the next election, amid growing suggestions that key support for Tony Abbott is ebbing away.

Dreamworld CEO addresses media

Bishop: 'I'm not counting numbers'

Political correspondent James Massola has been talking to Deputy Liberal Leader Julie Bishop in New Zealand.

And Ms Bishop has declared in an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media that "I'm not doing the numbers" as she brushed aside fresh questions about whether the Prime Minister has lost the support of a majority of the party room.

"I'm not doing the numbers, the media are obviously ringing backbenchers, I am not and if I were I think people would know that in a heart beat. I'm not doing the numbers," she said.

It's believed no one was game enough to ask Malcolm Turnbull what would happen if he was prime minister during Monday's lunch with Credit Suisse. Photo: Christopher Pearce

Mr Abbott has been hit by a damaging new round of leadership speculation, with reports backbenchers have told Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull he has the numbers to become leader but ministers will need to trigger another leadership spill.

On Thursday night, Mr Turnbull remained tight-lipped when surrounded by reporters in Sydney.

"I'm a member of Parliament, so I talk to my colleagues all the time," he said.

"I'll leave you guys to speculate on all that stuff."

On the furore surrounding Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs, Ms Bishop delivered a strongly-worded defence of the government's handling of the matter.

Mr Bishop yesterday told Parliament an international posting had been discussed for Ms Triggs during a meeting in her office with the secretary of the Attorney-General's Department, Chris Moraitis.

"I didn't reveal anything in question time yesterday, I merely repeated what the secretary of the Attorney-General's department said in Senate estimates," Ms Bishop said.

"That she [Professor Triggs] was not asked to resign, she was not offered a job, she was not offered any inducement, a role was discussed and as I pointed out, it depends who raised the role, and if people in the press gallery are so lacking in curiosity that they can't get a hint and follow it up, they really do disappoint me."

The Foreign Minister is in New Zealand to meet counterpart Murray McCully, participate in the Australia-New Zealand leadership forum and to discuss issues including the joint commitment of troops to Iraq, the jointly-run ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone, New Zealand's temporary seat on the UN Security-Council and the two nation's shared interests in the Asia-Pacific.

"On New Zealand's role on the UN security council, they have taken over a number of the initiatives that we were running at the Security Council, specifically the humanitarian assistance for Syria, which Australia led, also the prosecution of the MH17 crime, peacekeeping [and] a number of another initiatives," she said.

"We will also be talking about Iraq and our involvement in the coalition in Iraq and Afghanistan, because New Zealand still has people in Afghanistan."

New Zealand this week committed 143 troops to Iraq to serve alongside Australian 200 troops in an "advise and assist" role.

And one of the most important discussion points with Mr McCully, Ms Bishop said, would be Pacific Affairs, including regional architecture and the Pacific Island forum.